Olympic legacy: Property’s winners and losers

A central part of Lord Coe’s winning bid to host the 2012 Olympics was a promise to transform the East End of London, and now, as Rio 2016 gets underway, data released by the UK’s leading professional home buying company suggests that London 2012 regeneration is still having a positive impact on the property market, four years later. Is this the Olumpic legacy?

Research by Quick Move Now has revealed that prices of properties surrounding several key Olympic areas have risen at a significantly higher rate than in neighbouring areas.

Stratford, home to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and Bow, which was also part of the Olympic park, saw average property price increases of 68 percent and 72 percent respectively between January 2012 and January 2016, whereas London as a whole saw lower price rises of 45 percent during the same time period.

Similarly, Swanley, site of the Olympic road cycling events, saw an average property price increase of 36 percent between January 2012 and January 2016, compared to price rises of just 15 percent and 17percent in neighbouring Hextable and Wilmington.

And it’s not just London that has felt the Olympic effect. Dorney in Buckinghamshire, which hosted the Olympic rowing events, has also benefitted from unexpected property price growth in the last four years, with an average price rise of 72 percent between January 2012 and January 2016, while nearby Burnham and Slough saw comparatively modest growth of 52 percent and 33 percent respectively.

Unfortunately not all Olympic venues have fared so well in the property stakes, however. Hadleigh in Essex and Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire have both seen smaller property price growth than their surrounding areas, and Portland, which hosted the sailing events, has actually seen a fall in average property prices since the Olympics.

Quick Move Now’s managing director, Danny Luke, commented:

It’s little surprise to see that the property market in Stratford and Bow has performed well; whenever there is regeneration we can expect to see an impact in the property market, however the amount of growth they’ve experienced, compared to other East End areas, is impressive. It’s unfortunate that every Olympic venue has not witnessed the same growth, but there is a clear correlation between the areas that received the most attention and the most investment, and those that achieved the most growth.